While running down the hall Lola yelled out "darn, I knew I forgot something. I didnt bring the lucky horseshoe or the lucky clover. I only brought a lil bit o' luck. Darn!"

They ran down the long dark hallway. It seemed like forever. Then all of a sudden ....... Boom ..... Bob ran right into a door. He tried to open it but it was stuck. He backed but and rammed full force into the door and it swung open.

The room was dim but they could see. And OH BOY what they saw.

There were shelves and shelves marked with dates .... old dates. Lola went over to the closest shelf and picked up a tiny book that hung from a key chain. The cover of the book read "Estee lauder Solid Perfume" As Lola began to read aloud and she realized that this was a catalog list of all the solids that were ever made. There were numbers next to the oldest solid names.

Bob stopped her from reading. "Hey Lola!, Did you just say Boutique Oval #365? I found a box with the number 365! Let me open it....... Oh Jimminy Crickett! It has the 1967 Boutique Oval solid inside! These shelves must hold all the old missing solids. Who in the heck ........."

''Everything alright Sir?'' Jack their butler asked as both Lola and Bob appeared dishevelled, panting and out of breath. ''No nothin aint alright!'' Big Bob growled, his brown and white saucer eyes now taking on the appearance of two large ping pong balls. ''My eyes feel like great balls of fire, my wife's on the verge of faintin and there's a little old mouse in my pocket whose never been so scared since nearly being caught by some ferral Ivory Cats!'' ''I did advise you both to be careful'' the butler continued, his manner taking on that of a very pompous Palace Guard. ''Shucks you did but that don't make our situation any less for what we just been through. That place is a mad house and I'm gonna have to make it up to my little wife, my little Imperial Princess, whose gonna need to relax and unwind after the experience we just been through!'' ''Yes Sir'' the butler sighed. ''Of course! I shall send a tray to your room once you are settled, unless you would prefer to come to the dining room?'' ''No, No'' Lola interrupted.. ''To the room will be just fine..... and please can you bring a little piece of cheese for our little mouse?''

........

''Well Lola, that sure was somethin. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect what we been through in that crazy place! Makes the mind boggle just thinkin bout it Lola. But we gotta work out why those old solids were numbered like that and what's been goin on.'' Lola sat on the edge of the bed, her Princess Pumps lying haphazardly on the floor. ''Now you mention it'' Lola began leaning back on her Polished Pillow, '' I was wondering if the numbers on the boxes showed the number of people who bought the solids. Like limited editions.....you know like we always asked for so we could keep track of how many solids were released each year!'' ''Yeh, I know what you mean'' Big Bob scratched his head, ''like a record of everyone with their names and ............yeh, like all those missin people but they aint missin if we got their history!!'' 'I suppose you could say that'' Lola looked across at the Gold Buddha sitting in contemplation on an ornate table near the window. ''I just wish those imposters had never been allowed in'' she mumbled. ''Yeh Honey. I can't help thinkin that had those unscrupulous people never been allowed to do what they did, this wouldn't be happenin now!'' A huge tear rolled down Big Bob's cheek. ''Am hopin my twin brother aint in any kinda trouble! If they tryin to copy him, then they gotta alot of problems comin their way!'' ''He'll be fine Big Bob! He's probably enjoying life in the Black Forest or somewhere in Germany last time we heard!'' ''Yeh, I s'pose you're right Lola, and as I always say to you, there's no point frettin bout it! Just gotta get things sorted out Lola. That's why we gotta be heading back to that place tomorrow. Shucks Lola, we aint got no choice in the matter now!''

Bob walked over to the closet and took the small polished stone from his pocket. He wondered if it had some meaning. He rubbed it on his shirt for a minute and then tucked it deep under the clothing on the shelf for safe keeping.

"Are you coming to bed dear?" Lola called. "Be right thar sweety," Bob replied. They both settled into bed to try and get some rest. They wondered what the morning would bring..........

Jack was terrified. He tried to push the box lid up but it must have been taped because it wouldn't budge except for a small slit that he could barely peek through. He could see a classic delivery van waiting outside the gate. The kidnappers threw Jack in the back of the van! After driving for a while the van came to a stop, Jack shivered with fright. The doors opened, it was dark, and two men grabbed his box and carried him into a dark warehouse type building. Jack was tossed onto a large work table. He could hear people talking. What he heard went like this:

"Yo, grab the book and tell me the next number will ya." "Oright, boss ..... its umm 1824, are we doing this one tonite?""Ya we have to, there's lots of money waitin out there"

Suddenly the box opened and Jack popped out. But before he could do anything he was given a tranquilizer and his body fell limp.

The men were working quickly. First they took some sort of greasy paste and rubbed it all over covering every inch of him. Then there was some very warm sticky substance poured on him. After a few seconds he could feel it hardening. Jack was scared to death, he thought he would never survive. He was almost ready to give up when he felt the men peeling the hardened rubber substance off his body.

Jack sighed with relief, he was still alive! His body was still limp but he could hear everything. The men were praising themselves for making a perfect mold. They quickly took the mold to an area where there were at least 100 workers waiting at tables filled with colorful enamel paints and lots of different color crystals.

"Here ya go! Now get to work!" the men yelled.

Oh my God thought Jack. He now knew what was happening. They were going to make copies of him...........

Brigitte-A big heartfelt thank you for all the work you did to putting together "The BOOK." Its just wonderful and really special. My thanks goes out to all the authors as well. Its coming along just great.

From the corner of his eye Jack watched as the workers methodically carried out their individual tasks. Some were assembling heads whilst others were engaged in matching vibrant coloured crystals to the square boxes. He could not believe his eyes as they produced more and more copies of him like a conveyor belt of Peas in a Pod, row after row of jack in the boxes nodding their heads back and forth, the bells on the top of their long pointed hats creating a jingling sound which echoed throughout the large room. It was like looking at his reflection in a Vanity Mirror and the sight made his Brilliant Heart beat faster and faster.

Mouse, scurried back and forth watching the workers as they assembled the disjointed parts. ''Heh Heh, what was that?'' one of the men called out. '' I thought I heard a scuffling sound!'' All eyes peered down at the wooden floor which was scattered with coloured beads and assorted objects. ''Nah, probably nothing!'' the worker next to him grunted, his Pig-like face bent closely to his Lucky Hand as he delicately applied another Desert Diamond to the outside of the box. 'Pass me that Paper Sculpture so I can check this fits. We haven't got all the time in the world so get a move on all of you!'' he yelled.

Mouse jumped up with a start landing on a bench piled high with hats of different shapes and colours. Faces of gold, coral, white and blue Cameos seemed to be staring at him from all directions. Quivering with fright he peered over the top of one of the hat boxes, watching and wondering how Jack was going to make his way back to the Taj Mahal.....